Of All Places
by Vamprissqueen
Summary: Ichigo Kurosaki was stuck. Of all places Rukia could have chosen for a group outing, why the zoo? What was she thinking? One-shot! Based on an actual zoo outing with my friends involving angry squirrels, crazy penguins, and a battle royale goose-style!


**Well, here's a little somewhat lengthy one-shot I wrote based on a personal adventure of mine! Actually, it was me and my friends, but you get the drift!**

**Okay, so…backstory…Well, this is just something I threw together a while ago. See, my friends and I went to the zoo and, well, we had some MAJOR fun! Seriously, it was definitely my highlight of the month. In fact, I had such a good time, I figured I would share it with the rest of you out there! So, I decided to take my zoo adventure, Bleach-ify it a little, and then post it all here to see what you guys thought! ^_^**

**Honestly, it's just something random that I enjoyed putting together. And a lot of the moments in this little story here actually come from real conversations and events! I only turned it into the Bleach version, of course...and I may have added a bit...lolz! XD **

**So, without further delay, please, read on and tell me what you think! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or its trademark characters, items, etc, even though I extremely wish I did. **

**Now enjoy the one-shot!**

* * *

><p><strong>Of All Places…<strong>

Ichigo Kurosaki was stuck. His feet wouldn't move forward. Well, not physically, but mentally he just couldn't make them move. _Why_ was he here? How in the _world_ had he let that crazy midget talk him into this? Out of all places it just had to be the freakin' _**zoo**_…

"Ichigo, you coming?" Speaking of the crazy midget, she and the others had already paid and were standing inside. Only he stood outside the gates of the Karakura Zoo, dreading the hours of boredom that awaited him. While the girls may enjoy running around looking at "cute little critters," he was sure he would absolutely hate it…well, except seeing the penguins. THAT was sure to make it better.

"Ichigo," Rukia called again, her violet eyes staring questioningly into his. She was standing with the others who had decided to accompany them on this fine, partially cloudy spring day: Orihime, Uryu, Chad, Tatsuki, and Renji. They were all looking at him expectantly.

He groaned inwardly before forcing his feet to move. "Yeah, I'm coming…" He paid and passed through into the Karakura Zoo, joining his friends near the front fountain—the one with the stone statue that was pretty much the face of the zoo. The statue consisted of a large polar bear staring down at a small penguin, likewise staring back up at it.

"I wonder what we should see first…" Rukia was pooling over the zoo map, Orihime peeking over her shoulder.

"Maybe the elephants! Or the polar bears! Ooh! How about the giraffes?" the orange-haired girl babbled excitedly. This whole excursion had been her idea, so naturally she would be the most excited.

Tatsuki laughed. "Calm down, Orihime. We'll have time to see them all!"

"And with the weather being as calm as it is, I'm sure most of the animals will be moving around instead of slumbering," Uryu nodded, adjusting his glasses on his nose. "After all, many of those that hibernated over the winter will be coming out of their sleep around this time…"

This brought another wave of excitement through Rukia and Orihime's eyes.

Renji stuck his hands in the pocket of his sweatshirt. "Who cares if they're sleeping or not? I thought you girls just like to _see _the animals?"

"But they're so much cuter when they're awake!" Orihime informed him, her bubbly smile plastered onto her face.

"Can we just decide where we want to go?" Ichigo asked.

"How about the butterfly house?" Chad's deep voice suddenly offered up as he pointed to the building that lay a brief walk down the path.

The girls cheered their excitement, but Uryu seemed to be the only guy, not counting the one who suggested it, showing the least bit of interest in going to see flying, brightly-colored insects.

"Chad, why?" Both Renji and Ichigo groaned together, sharing an odd look afterwards. Sometimes, they scared even themselves with how alike they were in thought…

Chad just shrugged, which was typical for him.

Sighing, the two boys finally complied and the group found themselves in the Butterfly Dome's much too humid habitat.

"Ichigo, look at this one," Rukia called, dragging him away from Orihime and Uryu, who were admiring the chrysalis cage. Chad, Tatsuki, and Renji were near them, but were more focused on a spider web Renji had almost dragged his red ponytail through. Well, Renji was complaining about it and the other two were laughing at him.

"What about it?" Ichigo asked as he turned his attention to the ugly rock Rukia was pointing intently at. He gave a little start as the "rock" suddenly moved, revealing its violet wings. "What the…?"

"It's for camouflage and scaring away its predators," Rukia explained, snapping a picture of the insect with the camera around her neck. "They talked about that on the display board near the front." Ah, the display board which Ichigo had paid absolutely no attention to it and brushed past like it was an unnecessary nuisance.

"Look, I came here to see the penguins," he said quickly, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "I'm not really into butterflies."

"It kinda reminds me of you," she smiled, turning her violet gaze towards him. "A little rough on the outside, but there's something there on the inside." She laughed.

"It looks more like you," Ichigo retorted quickly. Then, realizing by the look on her face how the comment could easily have been taken as an insult, he quickly added, "The violet color…uh, it matches your eyes…" He could have smacked himself in the face after listening to how lame that last bit sounded.

Yet something sparked in the black-haired girl's eyes and she looked away. Ichigo suddenly felt quite stupid and, turning away from Rukia, addressed the rest of the group. "Hey guys, it's getting too hot in here. Let's head out."

After a brief protest from Orihime, which ceased only when Uryu brought up some of the other animal exhibits close by, the group was once again on the gravel pathway—heading away from the Butterfly Dome.

"Look!" Orihime cried suddenly. "That peacock has its feathers spread!" Then, she was dragging Tatsuki towards the nearest fence, where the male bird was perched behind it showing off his colorful feathers.

"Here, I'll get your picture by it," Rukia offered, holding up her camera.

"Okay! Then we can take a picture by the flamingoes, too!" the orange-haired female chirped, indicating farther down the pen.

Ichigo rolled his eyes and leaned up against the nearest tree; the other guys joined him shortly.

"I don't get it why girls want to take so many pictures of _every_ animal," Renji complained, crossing his arms. "It's boring."

Ichigo was about to reply when he suddenly felt a small "thump!" on his head. "Ahh! What the hell?" he cried, glancing up. Rustling in the branches revealed a furry brown blob high above him.

Behind him, Renji snorted. "You angered the squirrels," he laughed.

Ichigo was about to turn and fire off a response, when a bright flash went off. Whipping his head around, he spotted Rukia holding up her camera with a wide smirk on her face.

"That's a keeper," she laughed.

"Delete it," he said immediately, fixing a glare on her.

"Nope," she clicked the power button, turning the camera off.

"Dammit, Rukia, give me the camera," Ichigo growled, lunging at her. Rukia leapt back, easily avoiding him. Then, with little to no warning, she darted off down the path, the strawberry in tow.

"And there they go," Uryu commented, watching them disappear into the reptile house.

"You think he'll catch her?" Tatsuki wondered.

Renji shook his head. "Iie."

"Well, I suppose we'd better follow them," Uryu adjusted the glasses on the bridge of his nose. "Orihime, are you finished taking…" Turning, he noticed her sudden absence. "Orihime?"

Tatsuki pointed ahead. "Looks like she's ahead of you. Orihime! Wait up!"

* * *

><p>Inside the reptile house, Ichigo had finally caught up with Rukia, but only because she had stopped at the alligator pen. The reptile was out of the water and sunbathing under the heat lamp. Instead of running, Rukia was now utilizing her camera to take a picture of the animal…make that about fifteen pictures…<p>

"Will you delete the picture already?" Ichigo panted, catching his breath.

"Will you buy me an alligator?" she responded.

"Hell no! You'd probably sick it on me!"

"Then, no," Rukia smirked, stepping past him to the next exhibit. "Look, Ichigo, turtles!" She snapped another picture and Ichigo sighed.

"Yeah, they're nice turtles…"

"Aw look, one's moving," Rukia stepped closer to the glass, watching the turtles.

"Yeah, it's—woah…uh…what is that turtle doing?" Ichigo watched, torn between whether he should laugh or stare in horror, as one of the turtles stepped closer to the other, smaller one and proceeded to shove it forward. It looked harmless except for the fact that the turtle's head was pretty much shoved into the other's hind end.

"Hmm, I thought turtles laid eggs," Rukia frowned.

"They do," Uryu's voice drew their attention momentarily away from the…_suggestive_-looking turtles. He and the rest of the group had finally caught up with them.

"Well apparently, this one's got something else on his mind," Renji laughed. "Is it seriously trying to…climb on top of it or something…? I'm taking a video of this!" Pulling out his cell phone, he aimed it at the turtles.

Rukia rolled her eyes. "You shouldn't be allowed anywhere near here…you're an animal yourself."

"Um," Orihime bit her lower lip. "Should we, uh, block the view or something? There are children around…"

"There are so many of us, I think we're blocking it already," Tatsuki smiled. Chad nodded his agreement.

"Oh, well okay," Orihime chirped.

"Let's just get out of here," Uryu offered. "I think we've seen enough of the reptiles. And Renji needs to leave before he gets any ideas."

"Hey!"

"Hold on," Rukia interrupted. "I want to see the pythons!"

For what felt like the billionth time that day, Ichigo sighed. And it was only ten in the morning.

* * *

><p>"So where to now?" Uryu asked as the group finally exited the reptile house twenty minutes later.<p>

"I want to see the bears," Tatsuki said.

Orihime smiled at her friend. "And the kangaroos, right?"

"And then we'd better stop for lunch," Renji frowned. "I'm starving."

"Of course you are, baka," Rukia said, punching the shoulder of her childhood friend.

Ichigo smirked slightly as he watched the two of them. In a way, Rukia really did remind him of that butterfly they had seen earlier. On the outside, she was a little midget that didn't look like she could even hurt a fly, but he knew that, looking past her appearance, she had done more than enough damage with that zanpakuto of hers. Plus, there was something about the midget that just seemed to…sparkle sometimes. Just like how that butterfly seemed rough on the outside and blended in with its surroundings, but once it opened its wings, it was one of the most beautiful things you could see.

And that's where Ichigo suddenly halted his conscious thought. He absolutely most certainly did NOT just think that about the midget. Iie. Nope. No way. Nada. He was thinking about…about…

"Penguins."

"What, Ichigo?" Chad asked.

"Oh…uh…I want to see the penguins," he said quickly.

"Ooh, I want to, too, Ichigo!" Orihime piped up, overhearing their brief conversation.

Tatsuki frowned. "After the bears."

"And lunch!" Renji added.

"I didn't mean right now," Ichigo defended himself. "I just meant before we leave!"

"Tatsuki! Grizzly bears!" Rukia called out suddenly, drawing everyone's attention, though particularly Tatsuki's, towards the animal exhibit. The tomboy and Orihime took off towards the edge of the pen. Uryu and Chad followed, though a little slower. Renji lingered with Ichigo and Rukia, but eventually decided he wanted to head over there as well.

Rukia suddenly tapped Ichigo's shoulder. "Look, Ichigo." She pointed to a building a few exhibits down, easily distinguishable by a large mural of penguins on the side. "You get to see your penguins next."

"I thought Tatsuki and Orihime wanted to see the kangaroos?"

Rukia shrugged. "Yeah, but I looked at the map. They're a bit of a walk from here. It'd probably be best to see the penguins first since I don't think we'll be heading back this way…"

Ichigo took one look at their friends, still distracted by moving between the polar bears, grizzly bears, black bears, brown bears, and whatever the hell other color bears they could see. It would be awhile before they were finished. They could be back before then…

"C'mon," he said, starting off down the path again.

Rukia didn't move. "Huh? Where're we going?"

"To see the penguins," he grabbed her petite wrist in his wide grip and dragged her forward towards the Penguin House.

"But I thought Orihime wanted to see them, too…"

"Orihime wants to see everything. She and the others can join us if they want to."

"But they won't know where we went…"

"Iie, don't worry. I think Chad saw us leave."

"You _think_, Ichigo?"

He stopped and let go of her wrist. "Look, I wanna see the penguins. Either you're coming with me or not."

He started off again, without her, but soon became aware of her small footsteps tailing after him.

One slight change in scenery and temperature later, the two found themselves staring through the glass at the vast array of flightless birds waddling back and forth on the rocks.

"Look, Ichigo, it's you in penguin form!" Rukia giggled, pointing to a penguin that appeared to be sulking against a rock. "It even has orange hair like you!"

He leaned against the railing between them and the glass. "It's called a crest. Those are Macaroni Penguins."

Rukia gave him a funny look. "Wow, Ichigo. For a second there, you sounded actually smart."

"Oh, ha ha. You think you're so funny. Macaroni Penguins just happen to be my favorite penguin. That's all."

"Well," Rukia joined him, resting her elbows on the rail, "if it makes you feel any better, they're mine, too."

He turned his attention to her in surprise. "Really?"

"After today," she admitted quietly, continuing to stare forward.

Ichigo was confused; he hadn't expected her to say something like that. Rukia was being strangely cryptic as she stared forward at the penguins waddling, well some were now swimming, along their habitat…

As another smaller bluish-colored penguin approached the one Rukia had dubbed as "Penguin Ichigo," the orange-haired boy smirked and decided to lighten the mood.

"Well, if that one is me…" he started, drawing Rukia's attention back from wherever it had wandered to. "…then that short one that's bothering it _has_ to be you."

Rukia blinked and took a moment to take in the scene before her. "Nani? No way! I'm not _that_ short!"

"You're a midget," Ichigo countered. "And the sign on the wall says the Little Penguin is the shortest out there. So it has to be you."

Before Rukia could offer another argument, they were momentarily distracted as the two penguins started snapping and squawking at each other, as if they themselves were arguing as well.

Ichigo and Rukia laughed.

"Oh man," Rukia said as she caught her breath, turning her head to glance at him. "That really _is_ us!"

"Hai, I guess so," Ichigo nodded, meeting her gaze. A silence settled over them both as they looked at each other and Ichigo found himself agreeing that maybe the Macaroni Penguin did resemble him in a solitary way…and perhaps that cute Little Penguin resembled Rukia as well…

Woah! Hold everything! He did NOT just put the words "cute" and "Rukia" in the same sentence. Nope. Noooope. No he did not. No, sir. He was NOT thinking Rukia was…_that_ word.

He cleared his throat and dropped his gaze as the awkward silence proved too much for him.

"Look, here are the others!" Rukia piped up, much too quickly to be just a minute observation.

"You guys disappeared," Orihime said. "We didn't know where you went!"

"Until Chad mentioned he saw you head off towards the Penguin House," Uryu continued for her. "Then we simply deduced you came here."

"Ichigo wanted to see the penguins," Rukia explained. "And we weren't really doing anything out there, so we came in here. Sorry if we worried you." She shot a gentle glare at Ichigo, as if reminding him that he was the one who dragged her away from them.

"Yeah, yeah," he mumbled.

"So what do we do now?" Tatsuki asked.

As if one cue, Renji's stomach grumbled. He laughed meekly, "Uh, can we get some food? I'm kinda starved…"

* * *

><p>Ten minutes later, they were situated comfortably around a picnic table, eating a combination of packed sandwiches (prepared by Uryu—thankfully not Orihime) and fresh-cooked nachos and fries from a café down the path.<p>

"Mmm," Rukia smiled. "Nachos are a delicious thing."

"Oh, agreed!" Orihime chirped. "I especially like to pour—"

"Try this, Orihime!" Tatsuki quickly cut her off by shoving a chunk of a sandwich into the other girl's mouth. "Didn't Uryu make a great sandwich?" Everyone said a silent prayer of thank you to the tomboy for saving their appetites. The less they heard about Orihime's strange eating habits, the better.

"Are you satisfied now, Renji?" Rukia turned her attention to the redhead, who was stuffing his face with French fries. He could only nod in response.

Across the table, Ichigo forced himself to eat another bite of his sandwich; he'd only taken a few. He just wasn't hungry today, it seemed. Even though it was already close to noon. But it wouldn't do good walking around the zoo without food in his belly so here he was, sitting with the others and forcing himself to eat a sandwich.

"So where to next?" He asked, trying not to sound like he wanted to go home.

"Well, Tatsuki and Orihime wanted to see the kangaroos," Rukia reminded him quickly.

Uryu nodded as he fished the zoo map out of his backpack (the one he had brought with them to carry the sandwiches). "The kangaroos should be a brief walk up the path. Along the way there are the giraffes and elephants, too."

"Hai!" Orihime cheered like a child. "I wanted to see them!"

"Okay, then it seems like that's the way we'll go," Tatsuki confirmed. "Right after Renji stops stuffing food down his throat like there's no tomorrow…"

Renji's retort didn't make it past the fries in his mouth.

* * *

><p>The kangaroo exhibit turned out to be an open trail within a fenced area. The kangaroos ran wild behind the fenced walls and zoo visitors were actually allowed onto the exhibit's trail to get a first-hand experience with the animals. Of course, petting or feeding them was prohibited, but it was still more than looking at them through glass or from a distance.<p>

Orihime and Tatsuki were ahead of the group, trying to get as close as possible to the kangaroos without actually leaving the path. The others were behind them, following at a more relaxed pace.

All except for Rukia that is.

Ichigo noticed first, and he turned back looking for the dark-haired midget. Sure enough, he spotted her behind them, taking pictures of a baby kangaroo with that blasted camera of hers.

"Hey Rukia!" he called. "You're gonna get left behind!"

She either was ignoring him or didn't hear him. Sighing, he ditched the group and jogged back towards her.

"Did you hear me? You're gonna get left behind."

"Ichigo, look how cute this baby kangaroo is!" Rukia cooed, snapping another picture.

"Yeah, it's adorable," Ichigo's sarcasm ran quite thick. "Now come on, or the rest of them will leave without us."

"Okay, okay," she gave in, turning away from the mammals. But as she started towards Ichigo, something—be it a rock, the air, or God knows what—stopped her and suddenly, she was falling forward.

Ichigo's body moved before his mind could comprehend his actions. When it finally caught up with the rest of him, he realized he had somehow leapt forward and Rukia had landed safely in his arms.

He blinked in surprise as her raven-haired head rose. Her violet gaze blinked back at him. For a moment, neither said anything; they just stared.

"Hey!" Renji's voice jolted them back to reality and they scrambled to separate as the redhead jogged towards them. "You slowpokes coming? We're heading to see the monkeys!"

"Uh, y-yeah," Rukia said as both she and Ichigo started after him. Neither looked at the other.

The awkward silence remained the entire walk to the monkey habitat. Ichigo walked with his head down, hands in his pockets, and stared at nothing in particular. It was safe to say his eyes were everywhere but on the midget walking beside him.

Likewise, Rukia refused to look his way. Though neither knew exactly what happened back in the kangaroo pen, both knew something certainly HAD happened.

"Monkeys!" Orihime's squeal of excitement snapped both the strawberry and the midget out of their stupor and back to reality. The group had reached the monkey exhibit; Tatsuki, Orihime, Uryu, and Renji were already leaning on the fence, craning their necks to spot as many of the primates as they could.

"Aw man, Ichigo, you gotta look at this one!" Renji called him over.

"What?" The orange-haired teen peered over the fence to take a peek at exactly what Renji was pointing at.

"That monkey! It looks like it went out partying last night!" The redhead laughed. Ichigo had to admit, looking at the monkey, it really did look like it had spent the night partying and was now passed out, drunk, on the ground with its limbs sprawled around it.

"We really MUST come from them," he joked. Renji's laughter increased.

Both missed Rukia rolling her eyes.

But no one missed the loud honk of a nearby Canadian goose.

"The geese are fighting!" Tatsuki laughed, glancing over at the large pond behind them.

"Over what?" Ichigo asked incredulously as he moved to get a better look.

Uryu adjusted the glasses on his nose. "It's mating season."

Ichigo blinked. "Huh?" Rukia snorted with laughter.

"They're fighting over a mate, Ichigo. Look!" She pointed. Sure enough, when Ichigo looked he could clearly see a female watching the fighting males from a small island on the middle of the pond. The two males were in front of her, near the edge of the water, battling it out for her attention.

"Crazy geese," Renji muttered under his breath.

"Tatsuki, can we go in the amphibian house?" Orihime cried suddenly, turning their attention to a large building slightly off to the left, over a bridge.

"Sure, Orihime," the tomboy nodded. She turned her attention to the others. "Who else is coming with us?"

"I'll come," Uryu said. Chad nodded as well.

"Eh, me too," Renji added. "I've got nothing else to do. You coming, Ichigo?"

"Nah, I think I'm gonna stay out here. I don't really want to see a bunch of frogs."

"Suit yourself. What about you, Rukia?"

"Actually, I'm gonna pass on this one, too."

Renji shrugged. "Okay."

"Rukia, if you're not going, can I borrow your camera?"

"Sure, Orihime," she said as she pulled it out of her bag.

"Thanks!" Orihime smiled. Then they were off into the amphibian house, leaving Rukia and Ichigo in another awkward silence.

Ichigo sighed inwardly. When did being around Rukia become so awkward? Was it all because of that stupid moment with the kangaroos? It wasn't even anything! So what if he had felt different in the penguin house! So what if he had And so what if he had called her cute before…he had a moment of delirium!

Right…?

"Hey Ichigo," Rukia's voice brought him back to reality. "Look." She was standing on a large rock that outlined a small pond. It was barely the size of a fountain. Ichigo glanced to where she was pointing and took note of two ducks, not geese like before, but ducks. One male and one female. They were swimming around in the pond, lost in their own perfect little world. Nothing but each other.

Ichigo smiled as he saw them. They were so peaceful.

"Ducks in love," Rukia said gently, and Ichigo turned his attention to her. Her violet eyes were glowing with happiness as she watched the ducks swim together. He felt his smile grow as he watched her crouch down to get a better look at the birds.

He didn't know how much time passed as he just took in the scene. It could have been minutes, seconds, or hours for all he cared. It didn't matter; it would forever be etched into his mind. The peaceful image of Rukia and the two ducks.

He made up his mind then. There was something bugging him that he had been wanting to do since the Penguin House—or maybe even before—and now, watching these two ducks swim harmoniously, it just seemed like the right time.

"Rukia," he said quietly, drawing her attention away from the ducks and to his brown eyes. She stood on the rock, making her height increase enough for him to look directly into her eyes. The violet orbs blinked at him, waiting for him to continue.

But like before, no words needed to be said. There was something about this moment, about the atmosphere in this place at this time. This time, it wasn't awkward; it was perfect.

The small gap between them closed and the next thing he knew, he had pressed his lips against hers. After all this time, after everything they had been through, Ichigo Kurosaki was finally kissing Rukia Kuchiki.

It was truly perfect.

That is, until the flash from a camera broke them apart.

"Aww," Orihime cooed as she snapped another photo. Behind her, Uryu smiled. Chad nodded.

"'Bout time," Tatsuki joked and Renji laughed.

Ichigo's face flushed and he looked away, much to Rukia's amusement. She snaked an arm around his waist and smiled.

"C'mon, it's getting late," she said, "and I want to hit the gift shop before we leave!"

This time, Ichigo didn't bother to hide his groan.

* * *

><p>About an hour of shopping, laughing at items, and plastic snake fights later, the group finally made their way back to the front of the zoo.<p>

"Oh wait!" Rukia cried as they passed the large fountain. "Let's get a group picture by the fountain!"

"Yeah!" Orihime cheered as she dragged Tatsuki and Uryu towards the statue of the polar bear and the penguin. Ichigo was about to follow Renji and Chad when he paused to look back. He was going to ask Rukia if she wanted him to take the photo so she could be in the picture, but it seemed someone already beat him to it.

"Would you like me to take the picture so you can be in it, too?" a middle-aged woman was asking Rukia.

"Oh…sure! Thank you very much!" Rukia smiled politely before turning over the camera to her. Then, she was beside Ichigo and the two joined the rest of the group near the fountain's edge.

"On three!" the woman called to them. "One…"

Ichigo smiled. The day could not have been more perfect.

"Two…"

Actually, he knew one thing that would at least make the picture better…

"Three!"

Turning to Rukia, he quickly leaned down to capture her mouth with his right before the woman snapped the picture. When he pulled away, the dark-haired girl was smiling.

It was a picture-perfect moment, indeed.

And later on, when he would look back at the photos of the trip that marked the beginning of their relationship, there was one thought always in the back of his mind.

Of all places, who knew it would begin in a freakin' zoo?

* * *

><p><strong>If you're confused about the Japanese I used…<strong>

**Hai = yes**

**Iie = no **

**Baka = idiot or stupid**

**Nani = what**

**Those are just the basic ones that I used (I didn't feel like getting any more complicated than that). **

**But yeah, so there's the one-shot inspired by my own adventure at the zoo! Though perhaps it wasn't as magical as Ichigo and Rukia's, it was certainly a blast! It still makes me smile thinking about it so I hope this made you smile, too. If it did, yay! If it didn't, oh well. It was still fun to write! **

**- Lex **

**~NOZOMI!~**


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